Safari, (n) : An expedition to observe animals in their natural habitat. This site is a 'safari' of international news, development theory, and the natural world. Written by R. Turner Shaw.

BRICS plan a Global Development Bank

BRICS, the coalition of developing countries made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is starting its own development bank to rival the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

There are questions to how successful this new alliance can be, however, for there are “serious questions about whether the member countries have enough in common and enough shared goals to function effectively as a counterweight to the West.” Many believe that these nations are not similar enough, and that, (perhaps like the U.N. Security Counsel), there will often be diverging interests among them.

Why do the BRICS countries feel the need to do this? For a long time, a portion of developing nations have felt resentful of the western-influenced World Bank and IMF. Latin America nations especially have attempted to free themselves from entangling agreements with these institutions, weary from the debt they were once caught up in during the 1970’s and 80’s. Even Argentina, once a poster child for World Bank loans, has decided that it would rather not enter into the same stipulated loan agreements, agreements like Jamaica got caught up in.

The same is true in some nations of Africa, though resent is notably less common. Though in some areas of the continent the World Bank is seen as a western, financially entrapping force, many governments and citizens understand the World Bank’s ultimate goals. BRICS nations lack this reputation on the continent. “France and the United States still have the highest rate of foreign investment in Africa. Despite China’s reputation for heavy investment in Africa, Malaysia has actually invested $2 billion more in Africa than China has.”

In my opinion, more nations focusing on development is by no means a bad thing. The BRICS may very possibly build up successful institutions. And even if they steal some of the Bretton Woods thunder, to have emerging developing nations create policies that help the least developed nations can be world-changing. Best possible scenario, the BRICS institutions eventually merge with the World Bank to create a more globally aware and unbiased organization. If all nations can keep their detrimental individual interests in check, global poverty could be seriously combatted. Naturally, this is idealistic. But still possible.